


Home for Christmas

by dragyn42



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-24
Updated: 2011-02-24
Packaged: 2020-03-01 04:11:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18792730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragyn42/pseuds/dragyn42
Summary: Harry finally gets to experience Christmas at home.





	Home for Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> Exchange: hg_seasonsfest 2011 - Winter  
> To: littlesinner  
>   
> Between real life and revisions, this took an insanely long time. However, I really like the result. I hope that you do, too, littlesinner. Thanks ever so much to the mods for their infinite patience, and for running this fun fest.

Things at the Dursley’s came to a head last summer when he woke screaming, another nightmare causing him to relive Cedric’s death yet again. Uncle Vernon had decided that the freaks wouldn’t do anything to him – a fine upstanding citizen – and showed Harry exactly how he felt about not getting the proper sleep he deserved.

Unable to take it any longer, Harry sent a letter with Hedwig to the Weasleys, and help arrived soon after. That afternoon had been a flurry of activity from the moment he heard the insistent knock at the front door.

The Dursley household was abuzz with police, Aurors dressed as police, several Ministry workers in suits and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Interviews were had, both in the house and around the neighborhood, not that Harry could remember what he said amidst everything else that was going on. There was a lot of shouting – especially when the various officials determined that the cupboard under the stairs had been lived in – and arrests were made.

At some point in the flurry of activity, Dumbledore had arrived. There was even more yelling, mostly by Mrs. Weasley, and the Ministry officials had words with the venerable headmaster. And when all was said and done, papers were signed and Harry and all his belongings were at the Burrow, never again to be forcibly returned to Little Whinging.

Over the summer, the best source of comfort he found was not from his best mate Ron, nor was it from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley who promised that he could talk to them about anything. Rather, it from the unexpected source of Ginny Weasley. She often found him when he was brooding alone, and proved herself to an excellent listener. She would talk him through his problems, and as he got over his guilt, she helped him adjust to the Burrow as his new home.

 _Home_. Which was where he was now. For the first time he could remember, he was at home for Christmas – because the Dursley’s house was definitely not a home. And despite his excitement, his joy at experiencing Christmas with his family, he still had trouble adjusting to the chaos that reigned through the Burrow in preparation. That was how he found himself outside, trying to find some alone time.

But, as usual, someone found him.

“What are you doing out here, Harry?”

Harry looked up from petting Hedwig, currently perched on his leg, as they both watched a gnome sloshing through the muddy lawn back to his little hidey-hole. It wasn’t raining currently, but it certainly was a rarity from the past several days. And despite the weather, he had been insanely happy here at the Burrow.

“It’s just... loud in there. I don’t think I’ve ever had a holiday where it was so loud. It’s great being a part of everything, and it’s all so much fun, but it’s just...”

“Yeah, I get it. I’m just so used to it, but I can see how it might be if you weren’t. But if you stay out here much longer, Mum’s gonna have a stroke or something.”

Hedwig leapt from her current perch towards Ginny, who automatically held out her arm. Ever since the summer, Harry’s owl seemed to have grown as attached to Ginny as she was to her owner. Neither of the teens had a problem with it, but it amused most everyone else at the Burrow who noticed it. The owl in question gave a ‘ _hoot_ ’ and pecked lightly at Ginny’s arm.

“Yes, beautiful Hedwig, I know he’s safe with you around, but Mum seems to think you’re not proper protection. I did point out to her that you were here with him.”

Actually rolling her eyes, Hedwig gave another ‘ _hoot_ ’ and hopped back over to Harry’s leg, who gave a little laugh at his owl’s actions.

“Well, it’s not like I agree with her, but it did give me an excuse to come out here and be with Harry,” said Ginny to the both of them as she sat on the bench next to Harry. She gave a little shiver in the wet, winter cold and smiled as Harry put his arm around her shoulders.

“So, you need an excuse to be with me, do you?” asked Harry, smiling.

“In this house? With Ron around? I don’t need an excuse to be with you, but I apparently need one to be with you alone.”

“Yeah, I guess we haven’t had as much time for just the two of us to talk as we did in school. I did kinda miss it. Maybe that’s another reason I needed to be out here. And it’s definitely better with you here.”

The pair of them were silent for a short while before Ginny finally asked, “You mean that?”

“Mean what?”

“That you like being with me. Alone.”

Harry took a moment to answer, but then said, “Yeah, I do. I’d like to think we’re friends. Possibly... really close friends?”

“I’d like to think that, too, but I wasn’t sure. I mean, you and Ron have been friends for years, and I’m just his sister. We’ve talked a lot since this summer and all, but...”

“Ginny, you are not _just_ Ron’s sister. You are Ginny, my friend, who always listens to me, doesn’t judge me, helps me with problems I didn’t even know I was having.”

They both looked up from their avian friend and their eyes met, brown staring into green.

“Ginny?”

“Yeah?” she responded quietly, almost a whisper.

“Did you mean it?”

“Mean what?”

“That you’d... you’d like to be really close friends?” His question, like Ginny’s, was also now just a whisper.

“Yeah,” she breathed back to him.

Together, they each tilted their heads and moved, tentatively, towards each other. And as a chill gust of wind blew around them, their eyes closed and their lips met. The frigid air went unnoticed by the couple as their bodies warmed in response to their activity. For Harry, it was his first kiss. It was a divine experience, and he really didn’t want to stop.

Unfortunately, his lungs decided he really needed to breath and he was forced pull away. He slowly opened his eyes to see Ginny still leaning forward, her eyes closed, her mouth ever so slightly open, and her cheeks were red, which he didn’t think was from the cold. She looked absolutely amazing.

Within moments, her eyes also opened and met his, her mouth turning up into a smile.

“Happy Christmas, Ginny,” he said.

“Christmas is tomorrow,” she responded.

“Yeah, well, I think I needed to give out at least one gift in private, you know, before I did the whole holiday thing with your whole family.”

“Oh, well, that’s good then,” Ginny said, still smiling. “Happy Christmas, Harry.”

 _Hoot_ was Hedwig’s response, causing both of them to laugh.

* * *

Harry was getting better with the overabundance of activity at the Burrow. This year, it wasn’t until Boxing Day the he found it absolutely necessary to escape the house.

“What’s wrong, Harry?” came the voice he loved so much from behind him.

“I was so excited to come home this year, but it doesn’t feel like I have anymore freedom than I do at school. Everyone is just so afraid of Voldemort popping up from behind some random bush to accost me that I’m not allowed to do anything, even here.”

“Yeah, I was just arguing with Mum about that before I came out. She won’t budge, though. The Burrow, and we can only be outside if we’re in view of the kitchen window, or we can help Sirius at his house. That’s it.”

Harry sighed, staring up at the polka dotted umbrella that protected them from the rain. Luna swore that it would keep the Nargles away, especially with the abundance of mistletoe around for the holiday. Harry didn’t know about Nargles, but his friend’s Christmas gift certainly kept him dry.

“It’s a bit of freedom you want?” At his nod of agreement, she grabbed his hand and pulled back towards the house. “Come on, I think I know where we can find some.”

Harry followed her into the living room where she yelled, “We’re heading to Sirius’!” before throwing green powder into the fireplace, dragging Harry into the fire with her, and shouting “Twelve Grimmauld Place!”

It was a new experience, Flooing with another person, but Harry decided he definitely could handle tandem Floo travel if it meant going through with Ginny. Of course, he still managed to fall on arrival, and he managed to pull Ginny down with him, but that didn’t seem like a bad thing, either.

“So, what do we have here?” came a familiar voice. Okay, so maybe it was a little bad – he would never live this down.

Ginny calmly got off of Harry and then helped him up while answering Sirius. “Do you remember your offer from last summer?”

“Offer?”

“Yes. You said that while what we did trying to rescue you from the Ministry was stupid and ill-conceived, it would have made the Marauders proud, and though you weren’t in trouble, you appreciated the effort we went to. So, if we needed anything, we should just ask.”

“Absolutely. So what is it you need?”

“Freedom,” answered Ginny.

“Um, I’m not quite sure how I can offer that. I’m still not allowed to leave the house. I often wonder if the Veil wouldn’t have been the better option.”

“Don’t even joke about that!” yelled Harry. “I... I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Sorry, Harry. But you’d be fine, you know that, right? You’re stronger than you realize, and stronger still with your friends beside you.”

The males exchanged a hug before Sirius addressed Ginny once more. “I still don’t know how I can provide you freedom. You’re allowed here and the Burrow for this break. That’s it. I love you, Harry, but not even I’m brave enough to face Molly’s wrath if I go against her in this.”

“It’s not that, Sirius,” said Ginny. “We don’t need to be free of this place. We just need a place to be free. Someplace without all the people of the Burrow.”

Sirius stared at them for a moment, a grin plastered on his face. “Well then, welcome to Casa de Black. I’ll just go... feed Buckbeak. That’s what I’ll do. Don’t get into trouble now, yeah?”

The trio walked up the stairs, but where Sirius kept going up to the room that housed the hippogriff, Ginny steered Harry towards the room that had been hers and Hermione’s that summer.

“So, Harry, you want freedom?” she asked him as they closed the door to the room. She then divested herself of her trainers, her blouse, and her skirt. Standing before him in nothing but her bra and knickers, she said, you are _free_ do to whatever you want that doesn’t have to remove the rest of my clothes.”

Harry took no time at all tackling her to the bed. His lips attached to hers, and he spent the next hour exploring her body with his hands. He kept to her one stipulation, but that still allowed his hand outside her knickers, and she screamed out in pleasure several times over the course of their time together.

“This was... wow. Thank you so much, Ginny.”

“Happy Christmas, Harry.”

“Happy Christmas, Ginny.”

* * *

Some deity, somewhere, seemed to really want Harry soaked at Christmastime. It was Christmas Eve and raining. Harry couldn’t sleep; there was just too much going through his mind: the prophecy, Occlumency, not to mention the mundane stuff like homework and his girlfriend. Ron had long since accepted that Harry and Ginny were dating, but didn’t quite seem to understand that they liked to spend time _alone_.

Or maybe he did.

But between Ron and Ginny’s O.W.L. preparation, the couple hadn’t had much alone time since the start of the school year.

He looked up at the polka dot umbrella. It had seen better days since the previous year, but was still adequate for keeping out the rain.

“Alone at last.”

That Ginny seemed to know exactly when he was alone and could find him no longer surprised him at all.

“Yeah, at last,” he agreed as she sat next to him. “Though, if Ron shows up, I may have to hex him.”

“Only if you beat me to it,” she agreed.

The couple sat in silence, enjoying their time alone. Harry wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close.

He didn’t really know how long it had been before Ginny spoke up, “Harry?”

“Yes?”

“Did you mind that I didn’t have a real gift for you?”

“Huh?” He had really liked the box of quills she had gotten him. The feathers were quite fine, and as Ron kept borrowing his quills without asking, he seemed to go through an inordinate number of the utensils. “What do you mean? I though the quills were quite thoughtful.”

“I guess. It’s just, I’m not that good at Christmas shopping. I feel so bad that _my_ tests and _my_ brother are keeping us apart, and I really wanted something meaningful.”

“It was great, Ginny. Really.”

“I’m glad.”

Several more minutes passed when Ginny spoke up again. “I want to give you something else.”

“What.”

“I want to give you... well,..” Her hand drifted down his chest to his trousers. “I know we’re not ready for more, but I want to do this. For you.”

Her hand deftly undid his snap and zipper, and then slipped into his boxers. His reaction was immediate. He felt her hand at the same moment he felt her lips on his, and quite quickly, the sensation of pleasure became all he was aware of. All of his worries were washed away, and nothing mattered but the girl in his arms.

All too soon, he cried out and there was a sticky mess in his boxers. Ginny withdrew her hand, wiping it off on his pant leg.

“Gee, thanks,” he muttered into her mouth.

“There will be less question this way than if this... mess... were on my clothes,” she said, giggling.

“Good point,” he relented, kissing her once more.

Later, as they stood up to head back into the Burrow, he looked at her and said, “Ginny, that really was a wonderful gift. Thank you.”

“Happy Christmas, Harry.”

“Happy Christmas, Ginny.”

* * *

For the first time since Harry had moved into the Burrow, it wasn’t raining for Christmas. It struck him as poetic, as it was also the first Christmas that he didn’t have the threat of Voldemort hanging over him. The world, his life, they had both been through so much in the past two years. Yet, one thing remained the same.

“I knew I’d find you here,” she said.

“I knew you would, too, I was counting on it,” he replied.

The polka dot umbrella was no more, having been destroyed when the Death Eaters ransacked the Burrow last year. But it was okay, as it would have just obscured the view of the beautiful night sky.

“I missed this last year.”

“So did I.”

Ginny straddled Harry’s lap, facing him, and he linked his fingers in the small of her back, preventing her from sliding off. And then they were kissing.

It wasn’t as if they didn’t have any time to partake of this activity in school. In fact, nearly all of the students, and even most of the staff went out of their way to stay out of the way of the two heroes. Harry certainly didn’t want to be thought of that way, but it did certainly have its perks. However, this, right here, had become their own Christmas tradition, and they had an extra year to make up for.

“Harry? I think we’ve waited long enough.”

“Waited for what?”

She pulled out her wand and cast several spells. Harry recognized the Silencing Charm, the Obcuscation Jinx, a Warming Charm, and... was that a Cushioning Charm on the ground?

“For this. I know why you didn’t want to do it back in May – everyone was having ‘we survived’ sex. And over the summer, well, that just wasn’t a good time as we were putting our lives together. But, Harry, I’m ready. I love you”

“I love you, too. So much. You’re the reason I’m alive.”

He had told her the story of his adventures with Ron and Hermione. She couldn’t go along because of the Trace, but everything worked out well in the end – or as well as could be expected for a war. Despite it all, she never tired of hearing that she was the reason he came back. She knew his feelings, but knowing that he had a choice, eternal happiness, meeting his parents, everything he had always wanted, or her, Ginny Weasley, and he chose her, that brought a whole new set of sensations to her love for him.

Which was probably why he said it.

“I came back for you. I fought for you. I love you, Ginny Weasley.”

Ginny tackled Harry to ground and made short work of his clothing. Rolling them over, Harry reciprocated until the two of them were entirely skin to skin in the warmed, winter air under the night sky. They spent hours exploring each other with their hands, their lips and their tongues. Ginny brought Harry off once, though she had lost count of the number of times she had come. And when they were finally joined, they cried their joy out to the night, the charms ensuring that no one would actually hear or know what they were doing out in the open.

They were curled together on the soft grass, the air cooling as the spells slowly faded.

“We should go in soon. Your Mum’s gonna throw a fit. And if she doesn’t, then Ron will.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” commented Ginny, snickering.

“Har’y! Gin! Where’re’you?!” came Ron’s bellow.

“I don’t think anyone has ever told Ron what’s actually in eggnog,” explained Ginny, now laughing.

The redhead in question came stumbling in their direction, tripping over the table in the process.

“Sor’y. Didn see y’ ther,” he apologized to the empty bench, causing Harry to laugh, as it was obvious Ron really didn’t see them there. At all.

Ron then lay down on the bench and promptly began snoring.

Laughing quite hard now, both at Ron and in mortification at their situation, they looked at each other and their laughter died away quite quickly. They moved in to kiss each other once more, though it was only briefly. Neither of them really wanted to do this so close to Ron.

Slowly, they redressed themselves as the last of their spells faded. Harry conjured a blanket and threw it over Ron while Ginny recast the Warming Charm. Hand in hand, they went back to the Burrow.

“Happy Christmas, Ginny.”

“Happy Christmas, Harry.”


End file.
